Idaho Operations Office U. S. Atomic Energy Commission
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1968 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OOWi c p3w) H EALTH SERVICES LAB0RAT0 RY REPOSITORY XNEf M COLLECT~ONPo %Ic rQooM 7SoGeorge L. Voelz. M. 0. V$-36& PU $c/C 1461At6 JIV lUtrcSdW Pcrp cc Director SOX No. FOLDER 'ZD" - ftO7l March 1969 NATIONAL REACTOR IDAHO OPERATIONS OFFICE TESTING STATION U. S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION Printed in the United States of America Available from Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information National Bureau of Standards, U. S. Department of Commerce Springfield, Virginia 22151 Price: Printed Copy $3.00; Microfiche $0.65 LEGAL NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of Government spx-~ioredwork. Neither the United States, nor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission: A. Makes any warranty or representation, express or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the inIormation contained in this report, or that the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe pritately owned riphtr; or B. Assumes any liabilities with respect to the use of. or for damages resulting from the use of any information. apparatus, method. or process disciosed in this report. As used in the aho\c, “person acting on behalf of the Commission” includes any employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor. to rhe extent that such employee or contractor 01 the Commission, or eniplovee of such contractor prepares, disseminates, or pro\ides access to, any inforniarion pursuant to his employment or contract with :he Commission, or his employment with such contractor. ,!-,.- i I -’; ;. I 1 ii LDO- 12071 Health and Safety TI D -4 5 00 Issued: April 1969 . 1968 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HEALTH SERVICES LABORATORY George L. Voelz, M. D. 01RECTOR UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION IDAHO OPERATIONS OFFICE P.O. BOX 2108 IDAHO FALLS. IDAHO 8340 1 ,- I! :if- 11i PREFACE It is a great pleasure for me to publish this report on the activities of the Health Services Laboratory for 1968. The Laboratory was organized in May 1967 from six branches of the Idaho Operations’ Health and Safety Division. Its primary function is to develop a technical staff in occupational medicine, health physics, radiological dosimetry, analytical chemistry, and instrumentation, which can support the occupational health programs at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s National Reactor Testing Station (fjRTS) , Idaho. Two other federal agencies, U. S. Geological Survey and Environmental Science Services Administration, have professional staffs that conduct research studies for the AEC at the NRTS. These groups are administered through and work closely with our Laboratory personnel. This report outlines a number of significant contributions that the Laboratory has made in various areas of radiological science and occupational health. It reflects a gradual increase in the range of our research and development projects, particularly in dosimetry, environmental monitoring, analytical chem- istry, and in vivo counting technology. In late 1967, the AEC Division of Compliance requested certain analytical chemistry and dosimetry services to aid their evaluation of environmental studies at various licensee plants throughout the United States. This program, now entitled the Independent Measurements Program, appeared in several areas of our work during 1968 and will continue to receive increasing attention in the future. It is my hope that this report summarizes the work of the Health Services Laboratory staff in an accurate and useful way. Comments on our report are most welcome and we would invite you to exchange viewpoints on particular projects that may be of interest to you. George L. Voelz, M. D. Director, Health Services Laboratory March 1969 CONTENTS . PREFACE ............................................ ii I. INTRODUCTION ..................................... 1 I1. MEDICALBRANCH ................................... 3 1 . ROUTINE MEDICAL ACTIVITIES ....................... 3 2 . SUMMARY OF 1968 MEDICAL BRANCH WORK STATISTICS ..... 4 2.1 Patient Visits to AEC Dispensary ................... 4 2.2 Patient Visits to All NRTS Dispensaries and First Aid Stations .............................. 5 2.3 Physical Examination Programs .................... 5 2.4 Laboratory and X-Ray ........................... 7 I11 . DOSIMETRYBRANCH ................................. 8 1 . OPERATIONAL DOSIMETRY ACTIVITIES ................. 8 1.1 Summary of External Radiation Exposure Statistics ....... 8 1.2 Summary of Internal Radiation Exposure Statistics ........ 8 1.3 Program Improvements .......................... 9 2 . SPECIAL PROBLEM DOSIMETRY....................... 10 2.1 High-Level Gamma Measurements................... 10 2.2 Neutron Dose Determination ....................... 11 2.3 TLD-Film Comparison .......................... 11 2.4 Radiation Damage Study .......................... 11 3 . RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN DOSIMETRY .... 12 3.1 AEC Independent Measurements Program .............. 12 3.2 Personnel Neutron Threshold Detectors ............... 12 3.3 X-Ray Facility Development ....................... 12 3.4 Phosphor Evaluation ............................ 12 3.5 Electronic Data Processing ....................... 13 4. PUBLICATIONS ................................... 13 IV. INSTRUMENTATION BRANCH ........................... 14 1. ROUTINE INSTRUMENTATION ACTIVITIES ................ 14 1.1 Field Instrumentation Maintenance .................. 14 1.2 Laboratory Instrumentation Maintenance ............... 14 iii 15 2 . SPECIAL INSTRUMENTATION SUPPORT ACTIVITIES ......... 2.1 Freon Vaporizer Heater Apparatus .................. 15 2.2 Interface Tape Transport to PDP-8/S ................. 15 . 2.3 Nitrogen-Flow Control for TLD..................... 15 3. INSTRUMENTATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ...................................... 15 3.1 Aerial Monitoring System ......................... 15 3.2 In Vivo 239Pu Detection .......................... 16 3.3 Horizontal Rotational Scanner ...................... 16 3.4 X-Y Scanning Attachment. ........................ 17 3.5 Automatic Changer for Radon Scintillation Cells .......... 17 4. PUBLICATIONS ................................... 17 V. ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY BRANCH ....................... 18 1. ROUTINE ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY ACTIVITIES ........... 18 2 . EVALUATION OF 222Ra NEAR URANIUM TAILINGS PILES ..... 18 3. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ............... 19 3.1 Whole Body Counting Research ..................... 19 3.2 In Vivo Determination of 90Sr by Analyzing Bremsstrahlung from the Skull ..................... 20 3.3 Alpha and Gamma Spectrometry .................... 21 3.4 Analytical Procedure for Determining 35s in Vegetation Samples ............................. 21 3.5 Development of a Clean Filter for Activation Purposes ..... 21 3.6 Determination of In Vivo 235U by Counting the Gamma Ray Activit from the Lungs ................. 22 3.7 Determination of 1AI by Activation Analysis ............ 22 3.8 Determination of 55Fe by Liquid Scintillation Counting ..... 22 3.9 Determination of 90Sr ........................... 23 3.10 LA. E.A. Intercomparison Study of Analytical Methods and Standard Samples ........................... 23 3.11 The Fluorometric Determination of Zirconium ........... 23 3.12 Radiochemical Determination of Uranium and the Transuranium Elements Using Barium Sulfate ........... 23 4 . PUBLICATIONS ................................... 24 VI . ENVIRONMENTALBRANCH............................. 25 1. 1968 ENVIRONMENTAL BRANCH ACTIVITIES .............. 25 1.1 Environmental Monitoring ........................ 25 1.2 Independent Measurements Program ................. 25 1.3 Waste Management ............................. 26 iv 1.4 Particle Sizing Program ......................... 26 1.5 Emergency Response ............................ 26 1.6 Health Physics ................................ 26 2. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. .............. 27 2.1 Controlled Environmental Release Tests (CERT) ......... 27 2.2 Experimental Cloud Exposure Study (EXCES)............ 29 2.3 Internal Dosimetry ............................. 29 2.4 Injection of Gas into the Lithosphere ................. 29 2.5 Water Movement in Unsaturated Soil ................. 30 2.6 Movement of Radionuclides in Soil ................... 30 2.7 Tritium Studies ............................... 30 3 . PUBLICATIONS., ................................. 31 VI1. U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ............................. 32 1. HYDROLOGIC INVESTIGATIONS AT NRTS ................. 32 2 . RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS .............. 32 2.1 Analysis of the Underground Radioactive Gas-Injection Tests............................. 32 2.2 Seismic Investigations at the XRTS. Idaho. ............. 33 2.3 Investigations of the Effects of Underground Waste Disposal................................ 34 VI11. AIR RESOURCES LABORATORIES FIELD RESEARCH OFFICE. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ........ 35 1. OPERATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES ............. 35 2 . RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS .............. 35 2.1 Radar-Tetroon-Transponder System ................. 35 2.2 Mesoscale Turbulence and Diffusion Studies ............ 36 2.3 Time Series Analysis of Turbulence Data .............. 36 2.4 Hemispheric Dispersion Study...................... 36 2.5 Deposition and Depletion Studies .................... 36 2.6 Field Diffusion Measurements Over Extended Periods and Downwind Distances.......................... 37 2.7 Diffusion